Ace Attorney Retrospective: Phoenix Wright Case 2 - Turnabout Sisters

In some ways Turnabout Sisters feels like the finale, the end all be all case that marks the hero’s journey reaching its great climax and pay off. In other ways, Turnabout Sisters feels like an introduction, a first meeting of these new great characters, and a learning of just how to do things in this crazy new world. It both feels like you’re on your own with no one to depend on, and like you have your closest allies there to save you in your time in need, and it’s all these conflicting feelings that makes Turnabout Sisters one of the most fascinating cases of the series.

Many stories like to start off light and happy before reaching a twist that turns things dark and serious; often it marks a point in which you can say the series will never be the same again. Many stories like to save this until the player has gotten to know the main heroes well. To that end, I must say that, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a story do it as early as Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney does. And that is yet another part of what makes this case all the more interesting.

Turnabout Sisters takes the fun exciting first case, takes players who feel empowered by their success, their understanding of the game mechanics, and throws it all out the window instantly. It’s a reminder both of how helpless we are in terms of being at the mercy of the game’s mechanics, and well, how hopeless we are within life itself. Right off the bat you’re granted with the dark truth of your mentor, the character who was there for you, at your side supporting you, being defeated, crushed by the very system you thought you had power over after the last case. It’s a devastating blow, and it’s always left a lasting impression on me for just how early the twist comes. The more you learn about Mia as a character throughout the series, the harder the blow feels when you replay it.

In the spirit of combining the story and gameplay, I like to think it was planned that after revealing this dark twist, you’re faced with the very first out of court controls, and well, with it being your first time, you don’t know what to do. Examining things now, moving around, this isn’t like the court segments at all. Indeed, it helps contribute to the general mood of helplessness and sadness, and is a sign to fans that this is not a happy go lucky law series that we’ve gotten ourselves into.

To contribute even more to this, the 2^nd case begins and continues with an onslaught of new characters. Mia is dead, Larry is nowhere to be found, and every character you’re able to learn new things from are brand new and never before seen. It all gives a very overwhelming feeling the case has, and it stays as a core theme for its entirety.

Really, it’s this feeling of being lost, this theme of having the lonely burdened individual versus a large crushing seemingly invincible system, that drives the essence of Turnabout Sisters, and I have to say it works very well both from a gameplay and narrative perspective. Despite the sheer scale the case is, with you going all the way up against the best prosecutor and the most powerful man in the world, it’s still the second case of the game, and thus the puzzles aren’t too difficult to figure out.

This might seem like a contradiction of the scale, and by all means I think it might be, but I like to think of it as simply an effect of the core theme. Throughout the entire case Phoenix has his back against the wall with no one to defend on, and it seems like there is absolutely no way he can pull himself out of this one. The enemies could not be cockier and sure of themselves, and for good reason, Wright has an almost zero chance to prove the innocence of Maya, Mia’s younger sister.

And it is when we are most sure of ourselves that we tend to overlook little details. The common trope of villains in stories is to overlook the little things and slight weaknesses simply because they don’t see its significance compared to how powerful they are. For this reason, I actually thought it made perfect sense to have the logic puzzles still be a little on the easy side. It’s more a show of power by Redd White, a middle finger to the world, in which he damn well knows he’s wrong and a liar, but that he’s just so powerful and intimidating that no one would dare stand up to him, and he gets off at being able to get away with these obvious lies. And like so many people who think they’re everything, when put under actual pressure and into tough situations, they tend to be awful at it, due to not knowing what it’s like to be down, since they’re always on top, so again, I think it makes sense for things to still feel easy even towards the end of the case.

So if anything, Turnabout Sisters works perfectly as the second case with its difficulty. How else can you continue to have puzzles on the easy side unless you have characters so sure of themselves and powerful that they know they’re wrong, and don’t even try hard to deny it, especially in tough situations?

However, with how much vital information you learn about the core characters and series in this case, you’d still think it’s the final case. And this, this is something that I think makes the Ace Attorney series special. The series is never afraid to take characters and completely expose their stories and motives, even when it seems like they’ll be around for a long time. And from doing this it allows the games to cycle through so many interesting characters so quickly, and it’s also part of what keeps each case so exciting and intense. There’s always a new interesting character, always something to learn about, and it makes the Phoenix Wright games just never stop running once they start going, and it’s so so addicting. As I was replaying this case, I noticed that it was late and that I should have gone to sleep during the case, but was far too into it to stop, a feeling that I’m sure many Ace Attorney fans can relate to.

And more then just revealing all there is about a character, the Ace Attorney series is also well known for reintroducing old characters in new roles. Many tend to return, even though they've already had their main arc and story completed, going about on their own new little journey. And it’s these stories of continued growth, of showing that life just doesn’t end after you complete your goal, that makes the world feel so well...real! Indeed, one of the greatest shocks for myself and many more was Mia’s great return at the end of the case, as it goes against the convention of the mentor figure leaving the hero to then learn and grow on their own, yet it also works very well. In a similar manner, a lot of characters that play a big role in a case will return in a future one, sometimes even with a big role again, yet they always feel like they’ve changed and grown from the last one, and it’s cool to see them still having a journey, even if their main one is done. It shows that more than anything, the world of Ace Attorney is one of change, and I really like that about the series.

Really, that’s what Turnabout Sisters is at its core, it’s Mia’s main story reaching its conclusion. I was actually shocked and curious about how many parallels this case gave me with Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice. Like in that game, while Phoenix is indeed the main character and his journey is core, there are many moments when it felt like this was Mia’s journey. It was her sacrifice, her trust in Maya and Phoenix to find the clues she left hidden, that ultimately led to Redd White being captured and defeated. In the same way that Apollo Justice’s big bad felt more like a rival to Phoenix than Apollo, Redd White to me felt more like Mia’s adversary than Phoenix’s.

And in that regard this case takes on a whole new and cool meaning. In the way that Apollo Justice may have been meant to show the mantle being passed from Phoenix to Apollo, Turnabout Sisters is about the mantle being passed from Mia to Phoenix. It is Mia finally giving it her all, sacrificing everything, taking all the articles and records she spent her life tracking down, no, what she spent her entire career on, and finally letting it all come to fruition as her successors come together to take down White and ultimately fulfill her goal. Similar to Phoenix in Apollo, her goal of taking down White was something she spent many many years on, and Turnabout Sisters shows just how important this was not to Phoenix, but to her. It’s a case that is a perfect send off to Mia and her character as we learn about her past, her family, and more.

We even learn a bit about her court actions when Edgeworth calls out her tactics of picking apart little things in testimonies, which I thought said a lot about her, and was a really cool detail to add.

And with this in mind it makes perfect sense to have Turnabout Sisters come after the first case. Now that the player and Phoenix have gotten their first taste of court, have gotten to learn the basic of things and now have an idea of what to do, it’s time for them to play a part in completing Mia’s journey. And in completing her journey, it’s the perfect way to set up Phoenix as the true protagonist of this story. Which I think says a lot about this series, and that it’s never about only one character. It’s always about many, coming together as their stories intersect, and seeing where it takes all of them as they collide.

And this is how Turnabout Sisters gets away with feeling like both a first case and a last case. It introduces all sorts of new characters that feel new and odd, but we also learn of them all having a relation to Mia in some way, which gives a strange sense of familiarity. The case feels overwhelming and scary, and like you have no idea what to do, yet knowing that Mia had a part in all this, knew all these people, and had a similar journey to you, you’re able to pull through and gather the courage to believe in yourself and go forth.

And this is how Phoenix is able to conquer the overwhelming might of Redd White and Miles Edgeworth, and it lets Mia’s return at the very end of the case tie everything together perfectly. She’s able to shed light on the final pieces of the puzzle, shed light on her story as it ends, and let the player know that now it’s time for their story, now this is Phoenix’s Wright journey, and now you must take her mantle, her sister, her office, and start your own adventure.

Really, if there’s anything I can say about this case it’s that sometimes it feels too intense and epic, but I suppose that’s the point. It’s supposed to show you that this is a serious game and not something to just play lightheartedly. It’s both a continuation of introduction by introducing the player to how dark and overwhelming the game can be, while also introducing the investigation and interview sequences. And at the same time, it feels like a conclusion, like the end of Mia’s journey and character, and an epic finale against the worst of persons. And with that comes a confidence, a sense of belief both in the player and I think in Phoenix, that they can do anything, and that they can overcome the impossible. If you can get through the super bumpy road that is Turnabout Sisters, you’ll be left with a new sense of playing these games, and a newfound confidence and excitement at the many adventures that await you, and it’s simply a wonderful feeling that continues to show why this series is so amazing and why I love it so much. The amount of powerful feelings it’s able to instill is just……something else, truly, the sort of things I think all video games should strive to be…..

Random Notes:

The Bellboy debuts as the first purely comical character, and I loved him. I could not stop laughing at his antics, it was wonderful. The humor in this game is perfect for me.

April May is my favorite name ever and I will never ever forget it.

Despite this being the first case with investigation segments, there are no tutorial bits for them, unlike in the first case. This shows how simple the gameplay of investigation segments are compared to the courtrooms, which I think is pretty cool.

Like the first case, I like how when this case is viewed in a new light upon retrospect you can see it differently and as more significant than it seems. The parallel with Apollo is my favorite example, but other good ones are the Fey family, Mia and everything you learn about her in the 3rd game, and of course the DL-6 incident, all of which shed new light and make this case seem nothing short of amazing and like the beginning of the redeeming of an entire family.